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The European Central Bank must be cautious about future policy moves, ECB policymaker Joachim Nagel said on Monday, likening the path for interest rates to a mountain ridge rather than a peak.
The ECB cut its policy rate from a record high last week but did not give any clear indication about further reductions as the outlook for inflation has become murky after some strong wages and inflation data.
"We must remain cautious," Nagel, the Bundesbank president, said in a speech. "This is because uncertainty about future economic and price trends remains high."
He went on to compare the current situation to a ridge.
"I don't see us on a mountain top from which things will inevitably go down," he added. "Rather, I see us on a ridge where we still have to find the right point for the further descent."
The Bank of England's chief economist Huw Pill popularised mountaineering similes last year when he said rates were more likely to have a profile like that of Cape Town's Table Mountain - with a high, flat top - rather than Switzerland's Matterhorn, which has a much higher peak and then descends rapidly. (Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)